Fantasy for the Rest of Us

Luck for the Luckless

Oftentimes these two things go hand in hand. They are symbiotic: Beauty makes a person worth something; worthiness is judged based on the external.

Today I’m calling that out for the lie that it is.

Worth is a thing we are all born with. Our worth was given to us a long, long time ago, when we lived in a home made of flesh and blood and water and love…our mother’s wombs. In that first home we were declared priceless. We were declared irreplaceable. We were declared inimitable.

We were declared worth dying for.

This is the Truth of Who We Are. It’s an Inescapable Truth that applies to all mankind. God’s love for man isn’t love for men. It’s for man. The individual. He loves us like we’re the only one around. Sure, as it is with any gift or offer of kindness, you can choose to ignore it, or throw it away, or laugh at it. You can do whatever the hell you want to with it. It’s called free will, baby, and it (much like our worth) is our birthright.

Why am I harping on this today?

This is Shaina. She’s lived her life in an orphanage, with no mom or dad or brothers or sisters to call her own. In a few months time, her chances at having a home of her own will go down the tubes.

Shaina is beautiful.

This is Piper. Piper’s needs are many – so much so that it’s likely she’ll spend her entire life in what’s (ever-so-kindly) termed as a ‘laying-down room’ – aka, a place to put unwanted children who have too many needs to deal with. She won’t learn to sit up. She won’t learn to walk. What she will learn is how to cope with life in a cage – chewing on her fingers, banging her head on the bars of her crib.

Piper is beautiful.

This is Jackson. He’s missing one foot. Instead of prosthetics and patient, loving care, he will get a crib. Like Piper, that crib will be his cage.

Jackson is beautiful.

Here’s the Truth of Who These Kids Are:

Just like you and me, they were declared Priceless by the One who gives worth to all things. Just like you and me, they were made by a Creator who does all things well and with intention. By a Creator who makes no mistakes.

But unlike you and me, these kids break the mold. They are not the norm. And because of that, their lives – their precious, priceless lives – are lost to cribs and walls and minimal care. And love? What do they know of love? The love of a daddy who would scour the surface of the earth just to rescue them? The love of a mommy who would sell her soul to buy the one she’s found?

That’s the kind of love these kids need. The kind of love that matches the worth that was attached to them at the moment of their conception. The kind of love that doesn’t simply see physical deformity or potential medical expenses or the inevitable grief of burying a child in your lifetime.

They need love that does not fear. They need love that lives in courage. They need love that feeds on service and obedience.

Don’t give in to your gut-level knee-jerk reaction. Don’t give into the Oh-I-Could-Never-Do-That and the I’m-Not-Strong-Enough and the That’s-Not-What-I’m-Called-To-Do. We’re talking about the weakest, most vulnerable of our kind. The ones that are wholly dependent on the rest of us to do the right thing.

This doesn’t mean you have to go to a far-away land and adopt. I certainly haven’t. Obviously, the need is there, but there are other ways to help.

*GIVE. The families who are planning the rescue of their soon-to-be-adopted children are facing ridiculous financial hurdles. Help them out.

*ADVOCATE. Don’t shy away from the conversation. Let yourself be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.

*PRAY. Lift ’em up. It’s simple, it’s powerful, and guess what? God’s listening. When it comes to the weakest of mankind, His ears are open – wide open.

It might seem like this post has come out of the blue. It has, and it hasn’t. Years ago our family was involved in advocating for a little darling girl who, because of her country’s changing laws, was deemed unadoptable a few months in. Her country literally took almost every chance of a home and a family to call her own away from her. As devastating as this was to us (and it was), I can only imagine what impact it had on her life. Since then I’ve stayed on the fringes – perusing the Reece’s Rainbow website and praying. But my heart is being squeezed. I don’t know why. I only know that when I look at these children – so hungry for stability and love; then look at my own children – thriving and joy-filled…

I can’t stay silent.

And maybe, because of one girl’s willingness to speak, one little child will be a step closer to finding her family.

“I dare to believe the luckless will get lucky someday in you. You won’t let them down. Orphans won’t be orphans forever.” Psalm 10:14